KIRKUS REVIEW

A close look at three of
the iconic battles in American history, as experienced by the men on the front
lines.

In the introduction, Rose
(American Rifle: A Biography, 2008, etc.) writes that John
Keegan’s The Face of Battle (1976) inspired him to write an
American version of the same theme. The three battles chosen show the changing
nature of warfare. Rose is skeptical of the concept that there is a universal
experience of war, arguing that each era has its own ways of fighting and its
own codes of military conduct. For each battle, the author draws on the
accounts of ordinary soldiers to build the larger picture in mosaic fashion. At
Bunker Hill, American militia went up against British regulars. Rose shows that
the British were overconfident, while the militiamen had leaders experienced in
the French and Indian War and plenty of time drilling. At Gettysburg, two
seasoned armies were opposed. By the military doctrine of the day, emphasizing
the frontal attack, Robert E. Lee’s army was almost obligated to assault the
Union lines. At the same time, soldiers in a failed assault were allowed to
surrender with honor, unlike their ancestors at Bunker Hill. Iwo Jima, the
longest battle profiled here, produced a devastating body count on both sides.
The U.S. Marines and their Japanese opponents gave no quarter; few Japanese survived
the battle, and the Marines took losses that would have dissuaded almost any
other body of men. Rose builds up a detailed picture of each of these battles,
sparing few gritty details and romanticizing almost nothing. He writes vividly
and memorably, with a good eye for the telling detail or anecdote as well as
big-picture perspectives. It's particularly enlightening to have his detailed
examinations of Bunker Hill and Iwo Jima, which have received far less
attention from military historians than Gettysburg—but even that account
benefits from the larger context in which this book places it.

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